1 child to bring home, 2 to bury: Fire turns joy to grief
rushed to the University of Maryland Medical Center. The 30-year-old mother wasn’t due until April, but her blood pressure spiked and her baby’s plunged.
The doctors hurried her in for an emergency cesarean section.
Weaver works at Amazon’s Southeast Baltimore fulfillment center. Wilson, 31, works for the Motor Vehicle Administration.
The couple of several years had the two children. Then last week their third child was born, a boy. Isaiah Wilson arrived at 28 weeks, and just 2.5 pounds.
The doctors put the baby on blood pressure medicine and sedatives, Weaver said. The boy breathed his first hours by ventilator. Wilson came by after work, and they visited their tiny son. One worrisome day passed by.
In the brick rowhouse on North Mount Street in Sandtown-Winchester where four generations of the Weaver family lived, a woman across the street noticed dark smoke rising from the second floor. The heat shattered the glass. The toddlers’ aunt, Shantell Weaver, appeared in the window: “Help! Help!”
The firefighters were coming. Two miles away in the hospital, Wilson and Weaver visited Isaiah when the cellphone rang.
“I heard the kids were on their way to the Guy Wilson holds his son Kameron Wilson, who was 1 when he died. hospital,” Weaver said. “That’s all I knew.
I’m thinking everybody’s OK.”
Wilson pushed her wheelchair through the hall. They hurried down to the pediatric emergency room. In the crush of emotions, the parents forgot who told them, they just remember the words: “I’m sorry. They didn’t make it.”
The father demanded to see his children, he said, but wasn’t permitted. The next days would bring him few answers. He can’t Keyona Weaver holds her daughter, Jaliyah Wilson, who was 2 when she died. sleep, and his confusion and disbelief have turned to frustration.
Firefighters continue to investigate the cause of the fire. Officials declined to comment.
Weaver and Wilson, however, suspect a space heater started the blaze.
“The way I’m hearing it, it was the heater,” she said. “My sister says they were trapped. They couldn’t get to them.”
Wilson said, “We still don’t know what happened. How did the heater cause the bedroom to catch fire?”
“I got a lot of anger,” he said. “I’m getting different stories. I’m lost. We’re really lost.”
On Tuesday, Weaver stepped beneath the burned-out windows of her home for the candlelight vigil. Still sore from surgery, she staggered: “Can someone help me?”
Then Wednesday, the toddlers’ greataunt, Michelle Davis, went to the funeral home to do Jaliyah’s hair. Davis cried and tucked away a keepsake brown lock.
At the viewing Thursday, the toddlers matched in the blue and pink outfits Davis brought them. Jaliyah wore new kitty cat earrings.
Family members gathered and cried before the caskets.
Their friends and family donated at least $1,000 online to help. Through it all, Weaver ached from the delivery. “Sit down,” Wilson urged her. “You have to rest.”
The rituals of mourning have gone on even as their newborn son gained weight — at least 3 ounces. His blood pressure stabilized.
Wilson and Weaver plan to bury their other two children today at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Downtown in the hospital, their baby boy has begun breathing on his own. tprudente@baltsun.com
The doctors hurried her in for an emergency cesarean section.
Weaver works at Amazon’s Southeast Baltimore fulfillment center. Wilson, 31, works for the Motor Vehicle Administration.
The couple of several years had the two children. Then last week their third child was born, a boy. Isaiah Wilson arrived at 28 weeks, and just 2.5 pounds.
The doctors put the baby on blood pressure medicine and sedatives, Weaver said. The boy breathed his first hours by ventilator. Wilson came by after work, and they visited their tiny son. One worrisome day passed by.
In the brick rowhouse on North Mount Street in Sandtown-Winchester where four generations of the Weaver family lived, a woman across the street noticed dark smoke rising from the second floor. The heat shattered the glass. The toddlers’ aunt, Shantell Weaver, appeared in the window: “Help! Help!”
The firefighters were coming. Two miles away in the hospital, Wilson and Weaver visited Isaiah when the cellphone rang.
“I heard the kids were on their way to the Guy Wilson holds his son Kameron Wilson, who was 1 when he died. hospital,” Weaver said. “That’s all I knew.
I’m thinking everybody’s OK.”
Wilson pushed her wheelchair through the hall. They hurried down to the pediatric emergency room. In the crush of emotions, the parents forgot who told them, they just remember the words: “I’m sorry. They didn’t make it.”
The father demanded to see his children, he said, but wasn’t permitted. The next days would bring him few answers. He can’t Keyona Weaver holds her daughter, Jaliyah Wilson, who was 2 when she died. sleep, and his confusion and disbelief have turned to frustration.
Firefighters continue to investigate the cause of the fire. Officials declined to comment.
Weaver and Wilson, however, suspect a space heater started the blaze.
“The way I’m hearing it, it was the heater,” she said. “My sister says they were trapped. They couldn’t get to them.”
Wilson said, “We still don’t know what happened. How did the heater cause the bedroom to catch fire?”
“I got a lot of anger,” he said. “I’m getting different stories. I’m lost. We’re really lost.”
On Tuesday, Weaver stepped beneath the burned-out windows of her home for the candlelight vigil. Still sore from surgery, she staggered: “Can someone help me?”
Then Wednesday, the toddlers’ greataunt, Michelle Davis, went to the funeral home to do Jaliyah’s hair. Davis cried and tucked away a keepsake brown lock.
At the viewing Thursday, the toddlers matched in the blue and pink outfits Davis brought them. Jaliyah wore new kitty cat earrings.
Family members gathered and cried before the caskets.
Their friends and family donated at least $1,000 online to help. Through it all, Weaver ached from the delivery. “Sit down,” Wilson urged her. “You have to rest.”
The rituals of mourning have gone on even as their newborn son gained weight — at least 3 ounces. His blood pressure stabilized.
Wilson and Weaver plan to bury their other two children today at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Downtown in the hospital, their baby boy has begun breathing on his own. tprudente@baltsun.com
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